In the United States, pancreatic cancer is the second most common malignant tumor of the gastrointestinal tract and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in adults (Cancer Stating Manual, 7th Edition, 2010, American Joint Committee on Cancer, Springer). It is a malignant neoplasm originating from transformed cells arising in tissues forming the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer is adenocarcinoma or exocrine pancreatic cancer, which are tumors exhibiting glandular architecture on light microscopy arising with the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minor type arises from pancreatic duct cells and is classified as neuroendocrine tumors.
Treatment of pancreatic cancer typically depends on the stage of the cancer. Although only localized cancer is considered suitable for surgery with curative intent at present, only about 20% of cases are diagnosed with localized disease at diagnosis. Surgery can also be performed for palliation, if the malignancy is invading or compressing the duodenum or colon. Further treatment options include radiation and palliative chemotherapy. At present chemotherapy includes treatment with gemcitabin or combination therapies with gemcitabin such as gemcitabin/oxaliplatin or gemcitabin/cisplatin.
Despite intensive research efforts, no treatment is currently available which would be considered to provide a long-term progression-free survival. Pancreatic cancer is therefore to date one of the malignancies with the worst prognosis of all neoplasias. Particularly if metastases have spread across the body such as to the liver, the peritoneal cavity and the lungs, no efficient treatment is available, which would allow to effectively regression of existing metastases.
Thus, there is a need for new compounds and methods, which can be used to treat the different types of pancreatic cancer, in particular when metastatic spreading has occurred.